Ripley hopeful of signing announcement

Alec Swann

Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley is hoping that the club will be in a position to add another bowler to the ranks in the next few days.

The departure of Jack Brooks and the confirmation that Chaminda Vaas would not be offered another contract - reported in the Northants Telegraph last month - has left the County somewhat threadbare in the bowling department and Ripley is hoping that a reinforcement will be in place by the end of September.

But he conceded that any movement could be reliant on when Glamorgan’s James Harris, who is subject to interest from a number of clubs, chooses his next employer and the subsequent domino effect that would bring about.

“We’re stuck waiting for (James) Harris to decided where he is going, as are a few others,” said Ripley.

“I think we’re getting closer to knowing and that could be out by this weekend and that is the case then I would hope that we can have something done and dusted by the end of the month.

“We’ve got our targets and myself and Geoff Arnold have spoken to Chris Jordan (formerly of Surrey) who is the kind of cricketer that we want, someone who can offer with the bat as well.

“Once we’ve got a signing in place then we will be able to work out the finance for any of the younger players which we haven’t been able to do yet.”

Two bowlers who should be in place come next April are Luke Evans and Con de Lange who have both been offered new one-year deals and are players that Ripley believes have plenty to contribute.

He continued: “Both Luke and Con offer something to us.

“Luke took a while to get over his back operation but once he was back and fit he looked in better shape than the year before.

“The couple of games that he played showed the attributes that he’s got and it’s now up to him to show what he can do next year.

“Con made a good contribution in the one-day cricket that he played where he performed well.

“Ideally you want the balance that a left-arm spinner can give. In the past we’ve been successful with two off-spinners in (Jason) Brown and (Graeme) Swann although that isn’t the ideal.

“Con gives James Middlebrook some competition and another option.”

And should the new signing materialise, along with the ability to tie up more of the promising youngsters, Ripley will be able to add more to the conviction he already has that the squad he commands is building promosingly.